One of the most important aspects
of American society has been outsourced. People for years have been complaining
about high return quality jobs – the backbone of any economy – being
sent outside our borders to China, India, Mexico, etc.; for cheaper labor prices
and greater profits. But there is an even more important thread of the fabric
of our nation that has been outsourced… and that is PARENTING!

Music – You cannot go anywhere
these days without seeing wires hanging from some kid’s ears. Instead
of being tuned into their parents’ stories, example, and instructions
they are tuned into what the hip hop artists are rapping, what the teen idols
are pontificating about life and love (as if they have any idea about either),
and what shock jocks and other loud mouth profane broadcasters spew. Parents
just keep the ipod stocked and the media flowing. That’s their new job.
(Proverbs 1:8 – Parents are supposed to provide instruction to listen
to.)

Television – What parent
hasn’t needed “a break” and so the scramble is on to find
the proper Television show that will sedate their child(ren) for 30 minutes.
Then 30 minutes turns into a feature length Disney presentation. Parents learn
that they can have all sorts of “break time” as long as they keep
the cable bill paid, and the DVD stand stocked. That, and teaching kids how
to use the remote, is the parents’ new job. (Proverbs 6:20 – Parents
are to provide instruction to observe)

Video Games – The little
brother to Television, not for every kid, but HIGHLY addictive to those that
get caught up in them. Computer games are not enough. Many kids these days not
only have a Wii, or Xbox, or Playstation 3, but perhaps ALL THREE! Turning off
one parent to turn on the next; and when that is not enough there is always
the portable gameboy’s and PSP’s. It’s parents’ new
job to make sure they are working hard enough to stay up to date on the new
release games and gaming systems. (Proverbs 28:7 – Parents are to provide
work ethic.)

Computers – Internet, and
in particular, social networking sites are the newest craves. Who needs Mom
and Dad when the internet and your know-it-all BFF’s on Facebook can tell
you just about anything you ever wanted to know (for better or worse). No Bible
study, no family time, no prayer time. About the only parenting involved in
the computer age is making sure the proper “parental controls” are
set on all electronic devices (and most of the time they aren’t). And
making sure there is money to pay for the internet connection. (Proverbs 29:3
– Parents are to provide wealth of wisdom)

Extracurricular Activities –
Kids’ used to play when parents were at work. When the parents were home
they all did things together, or that revolved around the parents’ schedules.
Not anymore. Now everything revolves around the kids’ schedules. And it
is the kids’ coaches and instructors at extracurricular activities that
have the job of teaching teamwork, honor, commitment, etc. The coaches teach,
and the parents are supposed to work to pay the tuition and fees for all these
activities. (Proverbs 4:1 – Parents are to provide disciplined instruction)

Schools – For thousands
of years (and that is literal, not exaggeration), it was the norm for kids to
be taught at home by their parents. Only in the last 150 years or so has the
norm of “homeschooling” evolved in our society to be something “abnormal”
and/or “weird”. Where kids used to be with their parents all day
every day, they are now AWAY from their parents 7-8 hours a day for 5 days a
week. The new parents, father and mother figures, are their school staff, which
spend more waking hours with kids than their birth parents. It’s now the
birth parents’ job to make sure their kids don’t say anything about
God while at school, to let the school teach them that they came from monkeys,
and that all the dinosaurs turned into birds, and to keep working to pay taxes
to fund the schools while simultaneously saving for their kids’ college
education. (Proverbs 4:3-5 – Parents are to be primary and most influential
source of wisdom)

Church – Even the church
has taken over the role of parenting in many parents’ minds. It’s
the churches’ responsibility to keep our kids off drugs and free of premarital
sex. It’s the churches’ responsibility to teach my kids everything
about God. It’s the churches’ job to organize events for my kids
to be around other church going kids so that they socialize with good people
and grow to have good friends. It’s the churches’ job to instill
morality and virtue. It’s the parents’ job to put money in the collection
plate to fund the church so it can do all those things. (Ephesians 6:4 –
In the church – Parent is source of discipline)

So you see, the role of parenting
has been outsourced and birth parents these days are more or less relegated
to the function of ATM machine to pay for all their kids’ new parents.
Of course, with all our jobs being outsourced to foreign countries, where are
we going to find a job to pay for the outsourcing of our parenting? We will
pay. Believe that! We WILL pay! (Proverbs 17:21 – Begets a fool by not
being a parent)